True cost of Capello: £10m-plus for England coach and Italian aides tops grants to grassroots football

Last night, he became the richest international coach when he signed a £6.5million-a-year contract.

But he has insisted that a costly Italian retinue - dubbed "The Fab Four" - also be taken on to help him try to make England a world force in the game.

Capello will receive £4million annually after tax - more than Sven Goran Eriksson's £5million a year gross. It is the same as England captain John Terry, who gets £130,000 a week from Chelsea.

Hugh Robertson, Tory sports spokesman, said last night: "It is a hell of a lot of money when you realise that it is similar to the amount the Government alone gives to fund grassroots football through the Football Foundation.

"One can only hope that the FA are paying the money and making the appointment with the hope that Mr Capello can help us win a major tournament for the first time in many years. Time will tell, but it is certainly an extraordinary amount."

Steve Powell, director of policy for the Football Supporters Federation, said: "It is a great deal of money and once again it is the fans who are the one who will be paying the salaries.

"No doubt Capello is a great coach and the FA think they are getting the best man. But it is the fans who are paying through the nose - sometimes as much as £100 a ticket to see a game at the new Wembley - and they will be the people paying his massive wages."

The 61-year-old manager is understood to want Franco Baldini, 47, as his "Director of Football", having worked with him at Roma and Real Madrid.

He also wants 69-year-old Italo Galbiati as his number two after the pair helped Real Madrid win the La Liga title last season.

His third target is fitness coach Massimo Neri, responsible for introducing what was described as a "brutal" regime at Real Madrid.

The fourth is predicted to be Franco Tancredi, a 52-year- old goalkeeping coach. He is expected to replace ex-England goalkeeper Ray Clemence.

But he is also thought to want an English coach on his staff, with Stuart Pearce and Alan Shearer favourites. They would command around £1million a year.

Last night, Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce said the FA needs to pump millions into the game at grassroots to produce the England managers and players of the future.

Without doing that, we "are in grave danger of losing our identity and not developing the next national team or as many English or British-based players of the right quality".

Former England star Paul Ince said: "It's a sad indictment of English football that we've got to go to Europe for a manager. We're going to get to the stage that Fabio might go and we've got to have a ready-made replacement and it's got to be English."